HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania’s fiscal watchdogs are warning of consequences associated with eliminating the Medicaid expansion provision of the Affordable Care Act.
Auditor General Eugene DePasquale says healthcare for nearly 700,000 Pennsylvanians could be at risk, “There will be devastating consequences for hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians, mostly rural, working poor, if Congress eliminates the Medicaid Expansion Provision of the Affordable Care Act and does not have an adequate replacement.”
DePasquale says Congress should be aware of the potential ramification of repealing the ACA, “Kicking in out of the health care system now will have dire consequences on the health of those individuals and those families and will have ripple effects on rural hospitals and the Pennsylvania economy as the loss of federal funds that are helping keep their doors open.”
State treasurer Joe Torsella says federal reimbursements could push Pennsylvania’s structural budget deficit even higher, “As a fiscal officer of the Commonwealth, I know that that economic loss activity will result in a loss of revenues, both at the state level and at the local government level.”
DePasquale noted that eliminating the Medicaid expansion could also hamper Pennsylvania’s efforts to fight the ongoing opioid crisis.
